We strongly urge Phoenix Catholic officials to aggressively warn parents, police, prosecutors and the public about John Robert Murphy. We urge Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmstead to use parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements to reach out to anyone in Arizona who may have seen, suspected or suffered Murphy’s crimes.

It’s possible he molested a child just last night. And it’s possible that he could be prosecuted, convicted and kept away from kids.

Murphy has allegedly been “permanently removed from ministry.” But that doesn’t absolve Catholic officials from helping to protect others from him. Bishops recruited, ordained, hired, trained, supervised and shielded predators like Murphy. So they have an obligation to safeguard vulnerable kids from him even now.

We hope anyone with information or suspicions about Murphy will call police, expose wrongdoers, protect others, and deter cover ups. Silence and inaction only helps those who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We were founded in 1988 and have more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)